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The NWT government will issue its response on Thursday to a third-party review of the way it handled the territory’s 2023 wildfires and evacuations.
Transitional Solutions Inc was hired last year to oversee the biggest, broadest review of how the territorial government responded to the NWT’s worst-ever summer of fires, which led to the evacuation of Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and multiple other communities.
TSI’s review came back with major recommendations.
The reviewers said the GNWT must create a dedicated emergency management agency and make Indigenous governments full partners in that management, among more than 30 recommendations after speaking with hundreds of residents.
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The GNWT’s response will arrive a little over four months after the review’s findings were made public.
An overview of the territory’s response will come in a briefing at 11:30am on Thursday that will be live-streamed by the GNWT.
The full detail of the GNWT’s line-by-line response to TSI’s recommendations will be published at 12:30pm that day.
More: Get a 90-second reminder of what TSI’s review said
Up till now, the territory has provided little comment on the review’s findings – though ministers have said the GNWT has “already taken action” in many areas since 2023.
The territory said Thursday’s session will also include the release of an independent review into the GNWT’s handling of the 2022 spring floods that hit Hay River and Kátł’odeeche First Nation.
